A significant portion of the carbon and greenhouse gas emissions of residential buildings in Australia is associated with energy consumption for comfort and health.

Provision of adequate and affordable housing is a major challenge in both emerging and industrialised countries. With increasing urgency for addressing climate change and other environmental issues these habitats will need to be environmentally sustainable too. Conventional construction, especially in dense urban centres and in rural or remote areas, is putting great pressures on cost...

This paper addresses the ‘co-benefits approach’ as a means of integrating climate concerns into local planning and development control in general.

The Building Sustainability Index (BASIX) assessment tool estimates the operational energy consumption and GHG emissions from new residential developments based on information available at the building design stage. However, post-occupancy energy consumption can be different from the estimated figures at the design stage.

Professionals and tradespeople do not promote low carbon building options unless they have proven solutions and confidence to implement them. Consequently, without effective education and training they continue to ‘lock in’ high carbon options. Studies of education and training in sustainable and low-carbon building practices indicate collaborative learning approaches are required to address this issue.